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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Toledo is tired of hearing questions about its conference. Now people might stop asking.
Chester Taylor ran for 141 yards, including two touchdowns, and
Tavares Bolden threw for 140 yards and one touchdown as Toledo beat
Penn State 24-6 on Saturday.
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Un-Happy Valley
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This is just the third time Joe Paterno has started 0-2 in his 35 years as head coach of Penn State. There's hope, though, as Penn State reached a bowl game both times.
1990:
The Lions lost to Texas and No. 6 USC before reeling off nine straight wins to climb back to No. 7 in the polls and earn a spot in the Blockbuster Bowl against sixth-ranked Florida State. The Seminoles defeated Penn State 24-17 as the Lions finished the season 9-3.
1983:
Penn State lost to No. 1 Nebraska and Cincinnati in the first two weeks and proceeded to lose to Iowa in week three. The Lions rebounded to finish 8-4-1, capping the season with a 13-10 victory over Washington in the Aloha Bowl.
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Penn State, which had never lost to a Mid-American Conference
opponent, fell to 0-2 for the first time since 1990.
"It's the biggest win of my career," said Toledo coach Gary
Pinkel, who improved to 3-3 against the Big Ten. "It's great for
the conference. It's great for the University of Toledo."
Toledo (1-0) hadn't beaten a top opponent since opening the 1997
season with a 36-22 victory over Purdue.
"What better place for the Rockets to show we can play than
here. They're Penn State," defensive end Leo Frierson said.
Taylor had touchdown runs of 13 and 1 yards as Toledo took a
17-0 halftime lead. The Rockets made it 24-0 on a 13-yard pass from
Bolden to Lyle Green on the first possession of the third quarter.
"It's the biggest win so far, but a bigger win is a bowl
game," Taylor said. "That'll be the next big win. We proved we
can play with anybody as long as we play together."
Penn State has lost five consecutive regular-season games for
the first time since dropping seven straight in 1931.
The Nittany Lions entered the season with questions marks on
defense after losing nine starters, including Courtney Brown and
LaVar Arrington, the top two picks in the NFL draft.
But the Nittany Lions, who lost 29-5 to No. 12 Southern
California in the Kickoff Classic last Sunday, might miss Kevin
Thompson and Chafie Fields more.
Penn State's offense hasn't been able to produce, and went six
quarters without a touchdown.
After gaining just 142 yards, including 6 rushing, against
Southern Cal, Penn State had 166 yards against Toledo -- 64 in the
first half.
|  | | Penn State coach Joe Paterno has started 0-2 just three times in 35 seasons as head coach. |
"I think we need to take a realistic look at whether we are any
good," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We have not played a
decent offensive football game in two weeks."
Thompson, who threw for 1,916 yards and 13 touchdowns last
season, made the Cleveland Browns' roster as a third-stringer.
Fields, a flanker who accounted for 830 total yards in 1999, was
among the final cuts for the San Francisco 49ers.
With Rashard Casey starting his third career game -- he led Penn
State to a 24-0 victory over Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl last
season -- the Nittany Lions went three-and-out on their first two
possessions.
Taylor's 13-yard run gave Toledo a 7-0 lead with 10:12 left in
the first. A 24-yard field goal by Todd France made it 10-0 with
3:06 remaining in the first.
"They're a top-notch team. They're physical," guard Jim
Harding said. "Our first drive helped us a lot. The defense got us
good field position. It really set the tone."
Penn State didn't get a first down until Casey scrambled for
five yards on a third-and-1 with 1:35 left in the first.
The play drew mock applause from the crowd of 94,296 at Beaver
Stadium. The fans booed loudly when Penn State receivers dropped
three straight passes before settling for a field goal attempt in
the second quarter.
"Well if you can't run the football, you have to throw it,"
Paterno said. "And if you can't catch it when you throw it, you
have some problems."
The Rockets made it 17-0 when Taylor ran in from the 1 with 32
seconds left in the half. The touchdown capped a 14-play, 83-yard
drive that consumed 6:07.
"It was crucial for us to go in with a score," Harding said.
"We knew they would make adjustments."
Penn State finally scored its first touchdown as Casey
improvised a 61-yard pass to Larry Johnson that cut it to 24-6 with
7:27 left in the third. Ryan Primanti missed the extra point.
Casey scrambled right, stopped just before running out of
bounds, jumped and threw across his body and over several defenders
to Johnson, who ran untouched to the end zone.
Casey was 5-of-13 for 98 yards. He was replaced by Matt Senneca
in the fourth quarter for the second straight week.
The Nittany Lions moved inside Toledo territory for the first
time in the second quarter, but the drive stalled at the 29 and
David Kimball hooked a 46-yarder -- his first field-goal attempt.
Penn State, which fell out of the Top 25 for the first time in
eight years after the loss to USC, hadn't lost a home opener Texas
beat them 17-13 in 1990.
Paterno remains seven victories shy of breaking Bear Bryant's
Division I-A record of 323.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Toledo Clubhouse
Penn State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tavares Bolden throws 13 yards to Lyle Green for the TD.
avi: 787 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Chester Taylor scores the easy TD for Toledo.
avi: 977 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Joe Paterno doesn't know what to say about his team.
wav: 212 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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